Bohuslav Martinů; Hans Krása; Viktor Kalabis - Harpsichord Concertos (Mahan Esfahani)

Information

Composer: Bohuslav Martinů; Hans Krása; Viktor Kalabis

• Martinů - Harpsichord Concerto, H. 246
• Krása - Kammermusik for Harpsichord and 7 Instruments
• Kalabis - Concerto for Harpsichord and String Orchestra, Op. 42

Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra

Alexander Liebreich, conductor

Date: 2023

Label: Hyperion

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Review

I may be genetically conditioned to adore this repertoire, but this new album from Mahan Esfahani is an unalloyed joy from first chord to last. Martinů, Krása and Kalabis all on one programme: what’s not to like? Of course, sometimes expectations run wild ahead of actuality, but not here. If I encounter an album as good as this one this year I will be overjoyed!

Martinů’s Concerto is – just – the earliest work here, written in 1935 during his long sojourn in Paris. Martinů’s music almost always smiles good-naturedly, but in this beautifully nimble account it positively beams. The accompanying ensemble is relatively modest – eight strings, flute, bassoon and piano (played by Ivo Kahánek, no less) – but what other composer would create a chamber concerto for harpsichord with an orchestral piano nestling in the accompaniment? Esfahani and conductor Alexander Liebreich achieve a remarkably balanced, warm sound, each line and texture precise and needle-sharp. A much more satisfying experience than Robert Hill’s for Naxos (A/12).

Hindemith did not, so far as I am aware, write for the harpsichord, but had he penned a chamber concerto for it in the 1920s or ’30s it would surely have sounded much like Hans Krása’s delightful diptych for harpsichord and seven instruments (1936). Bearing the Hindemithian title of Kammermusik, it was partly based on a song Krása had composed a few years before. On first hearing, there is a feeling of incompleteness, as if a robust finale somehow failed to materialise, but familiarity shows that Krása got it spot on.

Spot on well describes the final and largest item here, Viktor Kalabis’s 1975 Concerto for his wife (and Esfahani’s teacher and mentor), the late, great Zuzana RůŽičková. Esfahani writes so movingly in the booklet of the composer and this most personal of his works, and it is magnificently played, every bit as splendid as RůŽičková’s and Kalabis’s own account (Supraphon, 7/13) – but with finer sound – and more than a match for Jory Vinikour’s fine if occasionally more cautious rival (Cedille, 10/19). Here, as throughout, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra’s accompaniment is sensitive and ideal, and Esfahani plays like an angel.

— Guy Rickards

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Bohuslav Martinů (December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He was a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and briefly studied under Czech composer and violinist Josef Suk. Martinů was a prolific composer who wrote almost 400 pieces. Many of his works are regularly performed or recorded, among them his oratorio The Epic of Gilgamesh, his six symphonies, concertos, chamber music, a flute sonata, a clarinet sonatina and many others. Martinů's notable students include Alan Hovhaness, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Jan Novák and many others.

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Hans Krása (30 November 1899 – 17 October 1944) was a Czech composer. Born in Prague, he studied at the German Music Academy, and later working under Alexander Zemlinsky. After studying under Albert Roussel, Krása composed notable early works including Four Orchestral Songs, a string quartet, and the opera Verlobung im Traum, which won the Czechoslovak State Prize. His final work, the children's opera Brundibár, was performed 55 times in the Theresienstadt ghetto, where he continued composing despite harsh conditions. In 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz, then murdered by the Nazis.

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Viktor Kalabis (27 February 1923 – 28 September 2006) was a Czech composer. He studied at the Prague Conservatory, Charles University, and the Academy of Performing Arts. Kalabis' international breakthrough came in 1957 when Manuel Rosenthal conducted his Concert for Violoncello, Op. 8 in Paris. He then received commissions from major ensembles and festivals, and his Sinfonia pacis is one of the most-performed Czech contemporary works. Though known for symphonic and chamber music, he also composed vocal and stage works. His wife was harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková, who premiered many of his works.

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Mahan Esfahani (born 1984) is an Iranian-American harpsichordist. Born in Tehran and grew up in the U.S., he studied at Stanford University and later with Zuzana Růžičková in Prague. Since his 2009 London debut, he has performed globally, appearing with major orchestras and at prestigious venues. Esfahani is the first harpsichordist to be a BBC New Generation Artist and has received numerous accolades, including a Gramophone Award and Diapason d'Or. A professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, he also contributes to BBC Radio and supports early music through academic and festival roles.

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